Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham, has vowed “we will not be terrorised” in response to the terror attack that saw a man killed and several injured in Finsbury Park.
The attack saw a man drive a white van into a crowd of Muslim worshippers as they left Finsbury Park Mosque this morning following a Ramadan service just after midnight in Seven Sisters Road. .
A 47-year-old man has been arrested for attempted murder and remains in custody at a south London police station.
He has further been arrested for the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism including murder and attempted murder.
Sir Robin said he “wholeheartedly condemned” the attack, and the flag at the Old Town Hall in Stratford has been lowered to half mast “as a sign of respect.”
He continued: “This is not the kind of London we all know and love. Only this weekend we witnessed people from all walks of life unite to remember the life of Jo Cox, the MP for Batley and Spen who was killed in her constituency last year. As per usual Newham residents threw themselves in to “these Great Together events celebrating the different talents and strengths we have within our community.
Terrorists are frightened by sights of communities getting along side-by-side, they want to divide us by striking fears in to our hearts. But we will not be cowed, we will not be terrorised.”
Sir Robin added: “We will however be extra vigilant.”
This morning’s attack is believed to be the third act of terrorism in the capital in 2017.
The Mayor said: “Newham Council will work with our partners in the police, including the 40 council-funded police officers, to provide additional reassurance to the Muslim communities in our borough as we come to the end of Ramadan and the upcoming Eid ul-Fitr celebrations.”
He said that the late Jo Cox’s words “We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us,” are even more poignant today than ever.”
Deputy Met Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu has said that extra police patrols will be deployed across the city and at Muslim places of worship.
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